What’s the Big Deal About Drug Prices?
eAlert
cea9802c-2e46-47a2-a29a-eaa0de249ec5
<p>Americans by and large believe in free markets. So why is there so much outrage over high drug prices?</p><p>In a new blog post, Commonwealth Fund president David Blumenthal, M.D., discusses what makes drugs different from other consumer products like tractors or computer chips. Federally supported pharmaceutical research is an important factor. Another, he says, is that many Americans are deeply uncomfortable with the idea that someone could suffer or die needlessly because they couldn’t afford a pill.</p>
<p>“In the end, the specialness of drugs comes down to how people feel about other people, and their own and their loved ones’ vulnerability to the killers and cripplers that we all fear,” Blumenthal writes.</p>